25 October #onlyonethingisnecessary
We’re in the final week of Respect Life month. We covered the poor, the unborn, the elderly, and now we turn to one of the most interesting and messy of them all: the family. What, you ask? How is “the family” in this mix? How are they the most vulnerable among us? Ahhhhh, glad you asked.
First of all, Archbishop Hebda recently wrote a letter to families titled, “Only One Thing Is Necessary” about the necessity of preparing our children for the next life (heaven) and not this one. In short, he writes that we spend so much time on making sure they are well-educated, career-driven, socially stable, and financially independent, that we parents forget our primary role… which is raising virtuous souls who will bring heaven-down-to-earth by doing God’s will, then reap their eternal heavenly reward. We parents can only do that if that is OUR focus too, so the entire point of our parent formation is to give us the tools to be holy in our own lives. So, how does that put our families on the “most vulnerable” list? Because parents are constantly bombarded with the godless-wealth-and-health-agenda of this culture that we forget-and-neglect what we were put on God’s green earth to do.
I mean, how many of us have adult children that are no longer practicing the faith? My hand is raised here, multiple times. Did I wake every morning wondering what I can do to get my kids into heaven each morning? Nope. Did we go to Mass every Sunday. Yes? Did we turn to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in our daily struggles? Gosh no. Did we send them to Catholic schools? Yes. Did we participate in the life of the Church outside of Sunday Mass or school events? Not so much. So, what went wrong? Putting the whole “free will” argument aside, we didn’t cultivate in them the fact that Jesus is intimately interested in their lives and we didn’t set a great example ourselves. We too got caught up in the wealth-and-health fiction instead of the Truth that this life is fleeting and its accolades hollow… that real success is standing before a smiling Jesus who says, “Well done, my good and faithful servant.”
Our first reading from Exodus today gives us a hint on how to be good-and-faithful parents (and good Catholics!). Do we model generosity in our actions with migrants? Do we help the elderly (widows) and children (orphans) in their need? Do we lend with joy and no expectation of return? Are our closets – and pantries - filled with things we need or things we want? As a family, how do we model generosity towards the least among us and simplicity within us?
St. Paul in his letter to the Thessalonians starts, “You know what sort of people we were among you for your sake…” So, what sort of person was he? Jesus-driven and Holy-Spirit-inspired, for sure. Can you say the same thing about your every life choice as a parent/grandparent?
Finally, we get this very famous and oft-repeated lines from Jesus: “Love the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” This type of agape love is not a free-for-all, let’s not kid ourselves. Jesus’ love comes with suffering and boundaries. It doesn’t mean you-do-you. It means saying ‘no’ to cultural norms and ‘Yes’ to Jesus’ radical gospel words. It looks like families being in the world but not of the world. The whole family and their souls depend on this. #onlyonethingisnecessary